New faces have been the story so far in the 2013-2014 season for the Boston Bruins. These new faces have come by the way of the injury bug that has been plaguing the B’s locker room over the course of the season.
Players such as Chris Kelly, Loui Eriksson, Dougie Hamilton, Adam McQuaid, Johnny Boychuk, and Dennis Seidenberg have all been on the shelf at one time or another this year. For Seidenberg, his season was ended due to an ACL tear on a meaningless play during the third period of a Bruins win. Seidenberg is a big loss for the Bruins defense as he often logs minutes comparable to Chara’s, along with being a staple on the penalty kill and playoff hockey. The Bruins hopes to win the cup this year dwindled a bit as Seidenberg went under the knife.
Although all of the previously mentioned players have vital roles on the club, it has been the Providence Bruins, or baby B’s, who have stepped up and made a difference.
Ryan Spooner, Kevin Miller, David Warsofsky, and Matt Frasier are just a few names of Providence players who have come up to the big club to help out so far this year.
It is because these players have stepped up that the Bruins continue to win games during the regular season.
Spooner and Miller have logged the most minutes out of the newcomers, and have done a great job filling in. Spooner is a talented center who can create offense using his speed and skating ability. Although he is yet to pot his first goal, Spooner has 11 assists in 22 games for the B’s this year. As long as Chris Kelly remains out with an ankle injury, Spooner will continue to fill his role centering the third line.
Miller is a defenseman with smarts and offensive talent. He uses his body to his advantage in order to move the puck, and he usually makes good decisions with the puck. Miller has even seen time during special teams on the power play and penalty kill. With defenseman like Seidenberg and McQuaid out, it will be up to Miller, and other young defenseman to step up and continue to fill the big shoes of the shot-blocking German.
A team’s best defenseman is its goalie, and Tuukka Rask has been a great example of that so far this year. The Finnish Olympian leads the NHL in shutouts with five, while posting a remarkable 2.11 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. Rask ranks in the top ten in all major goaltender categories, while talks of a Vezina Trophy are buzzing around the Hub.
Any Bruins fan knows that in Claude Julien’s system, defense and two-way hockey reign supreme. Those who buy into the system become better hockey players overall, and still maintain offense production. Those atop the point leaders for the B’s include David Krejci, Reilly Smith, Patrice Bergeron, and Milan Lucic. Goal scoring leaders for the Bruins are Brad Marchand with 16, and Reilly Smith with 15. Marchand has been on a hot-streak lately potting six goals in four games.
Goaltending and defense are primary concerns, while the offense comes naturally for this talented Bruins squad.
The B’s find themselves the high man on the mountain in the Atlantic Division with a 31-15-3 record (65 points), which puts them ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning by two points. Pittsburgh currently leads the whole conference with 70 points, and the Bruins sit in second.
It is past the halfway mark and the Olympic break is approaching rapidly. It should be a fun rest of the road for all of the teams in the NHL, especially the Bruins. We all know playoff hockey and banners is what this team and city lives for, but until then, let’s continue to watch the young players mature under the leadership of the Bruins seasoned veterans.
